Mini-Case Studies

Venture information management

I have worked with The Directors' Centre’s resources in many areas from executive mentoring and strategy development, through HR support and consultancy, right through to guidance on company mergers and acquisition…

...our turnover has grown from £1.5m to £4m, the profit generated has grown by over 300%… at no time have I felt that I have been ‘sold to’ – the advice has been free from commercial pressure, the individuals have always been trustworthy, frank and sincere.

- Neil Turner, MD, Venture Information Management.

Jumar Solutions Europe Limited

Jumar Solutions enlisted help with the strategy and growth of our IT Solutions business; we commenced working together at the end of 2003.

It became apparent in early sessions that we had some fundamental issues preventing development and progression of our organisation. Through effective mentoring we were able to address these and improve upon our internal and external communication, financial management, business strategy, client liaison, marketing activities and awareness of Jumar within our market. The Directors' Centre has given us the confidence and foresight to achieve the best value on the most profitable areas of our business.

A year on we are looking at a completely different organisation that has gone on to become the winner of the Deloitte Fast 50 Technology award, listing in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and we have launched a new range of software products to the market that will achieve significant growth for our business, 40% growth in sales in 2004.

- Wendy Merricks, Director, Jumar Solutions Europe Limited.

XJF Plastics Ltd

There are five areas directly affected since our working together:-

1. Creating Focus - Having established exactly where we were we created a plan to get the best out of what we already had prior to laying down an achievable vision for the future.
2. Vision - The plan we made is a measuring stick that we keep going back to - it is working; sales have grown in excess of 37.5% over the last year. New appointments have been made in sales, marketing and operations.
3. Efficiencies - Company efficiency is now monitored and improving with reject rates and machine down time being reduced.
4. Measuring Business Performance - Monthly meetings now happen to discuss the four key areas of the business, finance, marketing, operations and growth. I create the growth report the others are all delegated, what a great tool for planning the next move.
5. Maximising the Health of the Business - By looking at the true costings we identified clear margins for each individual product. By knowing the products with the best margin you can steer the vision plan to success.

The best thing is I am enjoying running the business, because I am actually running it, it is not running me.

- Paul Fairhurst, Managing Director, XJF Plastics Ltd.

Industrial Refrigeration Services Ltd

Over the past six months Mike Pagan of The Directors' Centre has given IRS the confidence and awareness to be able to tackle the task of enhancing and developing our business.

The initial health check process enabled the company to determine its strengths, weaknesses, goals and, most importantly, its achievements to date. The results from the health check then led to intensive coaching. The thought of the late night/early morning meeting in a remote location may not appeal to everyone, however, I can honestly say it was the most productive and positive meeting we the directors have ever had. From the meeting we gained a key point action list, definitive personal roles and a sense of "We can take on the World".

Following the above, we continue to meet up on a monthly basis to evaluate the completed actions, discuss new ideas and solve any problems. Each meeting we attend is positive, fresh and never have we found ourselves "going through the motions".

The above stages have helped IRS to believe in our company and not only plan for the future but also eradicate day to day problems by thinking pro-actively about situations prior to them becoming an issue.

- Daniel Downes, Financial Director, Industrial Refrigeration Services Ltd

Greenfield Training

The Directors' Centre worked with our company as we worked through various aspects where we felt the business was not performing as well as they should. From the sessions we became less woolly and more focused, particularly in meetings - action points and time scales.

As we were new to running a company we had doubts as to how well we were performing - thinking there must be things we were missing. However, with The Directors' Centre's support and plain common sense, we gained in confidence and realised we were doing well and were actually successful.

Using our sessions as a spur we have grown the business, employing more staff and the number of training products we offer. We are now in a better position to achieve our goal of building the business up to a level where we can sell it and retire within a realistic time span.

- Cameron Scott, Greenfield Training

so what?

If you want to work with an experienced team that know how to work with growing businesses and get them to achieve, then contact us for an informal discussion.